Curtail patrol car perk

It's quite a perk — and one that is being habitually and unacceptably abused.

As such, city leaders and taxpayers should now demand significant curtailment of the take-home police car perk — if not its elimination altogether.

We've never been big fans of this costly bonus — largely because we believed the take-home cars are an expense to already stressed city budgets, and one without a measurable benefit. And now a three-part Sun Sentinel investigative series amply and convincingly has documented the extent to which this perk is being abused.

The three-part series this week examined a year's worth of SunPass records and documented some 800 cops from a dozen different law enforcement agencies traveling at speeds of between 90 and 130 mph, often as they were commuting to work.

What's worse, the speeding takes place in a culture of impunity.

Since 2004, the Sun Sentinel reported that speeding cops have caused 320 auto wrecks — and 19 fatalities from those accidents. Yet, only 37 citations were issued and only one officer has ever gone to jail for acting so carelessly. And for just 60 days.

It's bad enough that substantial numbers of police officers are showing an appalling disregard for the very laws they themselves enforce on the public. But it's intolerable that they are doing so with taxpayer-provided take-home cars.

Mayors and city commissioners simply cannot allow vehicles paid for — and maintained — at their residents' expense to be used in such a reckless manner. Not just because of the cost in wear and tear, but also because of the liability these irresponsible officers risk incurring for their employer municipalities.

We understand the age-old reasoning in favor of the take-home patrol car policy — that the vehicles are a perk that can make-up for salary or benefits reductions. We'll even buy the argument that a take-home patrol car provides a police presence in neighborhoods.

But the recklessness the Sun Sentinel investigation pointed to this week overrides those arguments. Cities must protect their taxpayers, too.

So here is what we would counsel — a halfway measure. Eliminate the take-home patrol car perk for commutes that cross county lines.

After all, it seems the worst of the speeding abuses took place in patrol cars driven long distances on highways. Take-home patrol cars in the same county would cut down on some costs and liabilities, while still having the potential, desirable neighborhood deterrent impact closer to home.

Reducing the perk is preferable than other measures — such as installing GPS devices on patrol cruisers.

Human beings are fallible, we know, but there's just something awkwardly insupportable about spending money to monitor police officers who should be worthy of trust with city equipment, and the laws they uphold.

Friday: You've read our investigative stories and editorials on speeding cops. Now it's time to read what you have to say as we dedicate our Letters to the Editor space on Friday to reader feedback and reaction.